Client Overview:
Blackmores is Australia’s leading natural health company. The company needed a scalable, secure IP addressing plan to accommodate its growing business.
The Challenge:
Blackmores faced several issues with their existing IP addressing:
- Limited Address Space: The current address range couldn’t support the growing number of devices, data centres, and cloud resources.
- Complex Management: The lack of structure led to inefficient use of IP space and frequent conflicts.
- Scalability Issues: Expanding into new regions created challenges in accommodating more devices and services.
- Inconsistent Subnetting: Poor segmentation made troubleshooting and isolating network issues difficult.
- Compliance and Security: Regulatory requirements demanded a more secure and organized network infrastructure.
The Solution:
Sydco Networks designed and implemented a scalable IP addressing scheme, including:
- IP Address Plan Design: A structured plan based on best practices for subnetting and address allocation, ensuring future growth and logical segmentation.
- Zone Architecture Design: Use of security zones allowed the company to simplify the process of categorizing assets, and assigning them to their correct firewall security zone.
- VLAN Segmentation: Alignment with the company’s VLAN structure for better traffic management and security.
- Scalability: Ensured the design could accommodate future offices, acquisitions, and cloud resources.
- IP Management Tools: Implementation of IP address management (IPAM) tools to automate allocation and tracking.
- Documentation & Integration: Detailed documentation and integration with DNS and DHCP for seamless address assignment.
Results:
The new IP addressing scheme provided:
- Efficient Use of Address Space: Eliminated conflicts and optimized space for growing device numbers.
- Scalability: Supported future expansion without address shortages.
- Improved Management: Simplified asset classification and network management with IPAM tools and structured subnetting.
- Better Security: Isolated traffic between departments, enhancing security and performance.
- Enhanced Compliance: Met regulatory standards for network security and segmentation.
Conclusion:
The structured IP addressing scheme helped Blackmores improve network efficiency, scalability, security, and compliance, ensuring their global network is well-equipped for future growth and sensitive data protection.
